I don’t belong to any organized political party — I’m a Democrat.
– Will Rogers
Will, you wouldn’t believe what’s happened to your old party in Missouri.
Two weeks ago, as Obama and McCain both planned visits to KC, I got back to back robo calls.
Call #1 was an enthusiastic young local democratic woman telling me about Obama coming to a rally the next day (a Saturday) at the Liberty Memorial in downtown KC. The Liberty Memorial is a WW I memorial that looks kind of like the Washington monument, except that instead of sitting in a flat, grassy plain it sits atop a big grassy hill. Great space for a big crowd, and easy to get to from anywhere in the area.
Call #2 was an enthusiastic older local republican woman telling me about McCain coming to a victory rally at a private religious high school in Belton (a southeastern suburb/rural area) the following Monday. "Press one for information on how to get tickets to this event, or go to our website at . . . "
Two very different approaches to GOTV at work here in metro KC. Obama is trying to get the masses of his supporters enthused, so they will get out there to spread the word on Nov 4 and get themselves and their friends to the polls. McCain, OTOH, is trying to build up his database by getting phone numbers of people interested in his campaign, so they can microtarget their Nov 4 voter delivery efforts precisely at their supporters.
But it’s not just crowds (or lack thereof) at rallies that Obama is using to GOTV. Saturday morning I got a nice phone call from a live volunteer with the Obama campaign in MO:
Volunteer: Hi, I’m so-and-so with the Obama campaign, and I was wondering if we can count on your support next Tuesday?
Me: Yes, most certainly.
V: Great. It’s an important election, for our state and our nation, and the Democratic party really needs every vote we can get. Do you know where your polling place is?
Me: Yes, I do.
V: Great. Do you know when you plan on voting?
Me: Sometime in the morning.
V: Wonderful. Would you be able to help out with some campaign efforts in the next two days?
Me: No, that’s not something I can do right now — but good luck to you all!
V: Thanks!
I hung up the phone, guessing that Claire McCaskill is really pushing the campaign to pull out all the stops, both for Obama and for the downticket races. Getting the Obama campaign to mention the party’s needs was a nice touch. Even better, though, was the request for extra volunteers. *That* was brilliant, and even if they only get a handful of new workers, that’s a handful more than they had earlier. If they’re thinking ahead like this, I thought to myself, Tuesday night will be quite something here in Missouri.
Then 60 seconds later my doorbell rang. "Hi, I’m with the Obama campaign . . ." I just grinned.
After lunch, while preparing for my seven year old son’s soccer game, the phone rang again, and The Kid answered it. "Hello? . . . Daddy! It’s Barack Obama!" OK, this one was a robo-call, but the size of my son’s eyes was amazing.
Off to the soccer game, which Our Team lost. On the way home, we were talking about what would be waiting for us when we got there. Clean dishes, since we were running the dishwasher, and dinner would be ready soon, too. I added one more thing. "I’ll bet we got a phone call from John McCain." Everyone laughed, knowing how the phone has been ringing for the last two weeks or so.
We got home, and the little light was blinking on the answering machine . . .
No, it wasn’t McCain — just an angry, fear-filled minion from the RNC, spewing vitriol and nonsense. We laughed, and deleted it. But then as Mrs Peterr was putting the final touches on dinner, the phone rang again. I answered on one phone upstairs, and then heard The Kid pick up the other one downstairs. It was another McCain robo-call, and as soon as the voice said "vote for John McCain" I heard the other phone hang up.
I love my son.
I did before the election rolled around, mind you, but listening to him hang up on the RNC brought a lump to my throat.
Tomorrow is going to be quite something around here. And this is NOT good news for the Republicans.
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You raised him right, Peterr! ;-)
All together now, pups:
bwa-ha-ha-ha!
The polls have the Presidential race neck and neck in MO. Peterr, do I take it that, from your vantage point, it doesn’t look that close?
How ya doin’?
My kids are grown now, but when we were all together last week for a birthday, we were remembering some fun stuff. We remembered going to a McGovern rally, seeing Jimmy Carter in person, seeing the Clintons. My son, Dennis, canvassed for John Kerry. He and my daughter, Peggy, and I walked the U.City Loop in St. Louis in a protest march against the war in Iraq. Peggy canvassed for Barack over the weekend and is getting a half day off to work for him tomorrow. Yes, I feel as if I raised them right.
They, along with their siblings and spouses are a big old pack of Democrats.
Obama/Biden 08
I can’t believe he’s already seven! Smart kid.
Taking a break from packing…!
The kid will be president someday.
My vantage point is SE Kansas City — an area both sides describe as a battleground. Lots of Obama and downstate dem signs and such all over the place, and not so many McCain/Palin signs. But last week I was at a three day conference in mid-Missouri. Usually this is a reliably GOP area, but the things I saw and heard as I drove along narrow two-lane state highways led me to think otherwise.
1) Lots of vehicles parked at the end of driveways with “for sale” signs on them. Cars, trucks, trailers, RVs, boats, farm equipment, etc. Usually you see a few of these around, but at times it felt like it was every other driveway had something for sale. Folks are hurting economically, and they’re looking to get some cash to pay the bills any way they can.
2) A fair number of Obama/downticket Dem signs, even in this red area of the state. This was an area that was painted with Ron Paul signs earlier in the year. Whether they have gone back to McCain or floated over to Obama, I don’t know — but I’ve got the sense that more than a few moved out of the GOP into Obama’s column.
3) On one of the local (nonKC, non-St. Louis) mid-state country radio stations, I heard something I hadn’t heard in years: the Dixie Chicks.
That last one was the signal to me that things are looking better and better for Obama.
Found a place?
What up men’s?
I’ve got to step away for a bit . . . chat amongst yourselves, and I’ll drop back in when I can.
heh
still one of my favorite political quotes.
Wishin’ it was Tuesday. Soon as the critters are fed in the mornin’, puttin’ on my Veterans For Peace tee and hittin’ the polling place.
Thanks for the response, that’s very encouraging. :)
My mom found a place, but, nothing’s finalized yet…
I went all through grade school in Belton, Missouri. I won a trophy in a model car contest at the Ben Franklin 5 and Dime downtown when I was in the fourth grade. That was about 1959, can’t imagine what Belton might look like now. Claire McCaskill is sure a busy woman these days, I see her on Tweety an awful lot. I wish somebody would give her a make over, she could use a little updating. She reminds me too much of some of the grade school teachers I had, the kind, religious, motherly types from Missouri.
It will be nice to have this done–and, with any luck, shut down the Hate Talk Express once and for all. Let’s just hope the boys and girls play it clean out there so we aren’t recounting ballots for Christmas.
Will Rogers
Unfortunately I think the Hate Talk Express will continue unabated. None of these fools is going away. We’ll just have to figure out a way to colour them gone.
Wednesday I start workin’ on 2010.
a chip off the old blocks
that animation is kinda creepy in a weird way. Good thoughts tho!
Peterr – that is one smart son you have. I have a grandson the same age and it is a great age. When he is a little older and studying about famous people you might tell him about Will Rogers – Oklahoma’s favorite son.
Yeah, I don’t know what prompted whoever to do that. I loved the electric fence quote.
yeah :) they are all good. I like “congress opens with a prayer and closes with with an investigation.”
Like this one?
Cool kids, he gets it.
You’ve teached him well, CSNY would be proud.
Yep.
guess i’m the 4th kinda person. the one that grabs the fence and touches ya.
Maya Angelou: What I’ve encouraged voters to do is to vote for the person I am extolling, and also don’t expect that if your man or woman gets in, that all things will be rectified immediately. It’s taken us a long time to come to this place of weariness and almost hopelessness.
So because Obama gets in or McCain gets in, it’s not going to be repaired overnight. The economy is not going to be repaired, the schools — the disaster in our schools — will not be repaired overnight. Nor will the social conversation be repaired overnight.
However, I would encourage every voter to say to his or her candidate, go in and do it, and you will not do it alone. I will help. You have to get up off that sofa or off that couch and give something to the country — even if it’s one hour every other week to an old people’s home — I will read, go into the children’s ward and read, or give to your church or your synagogue or your mosque. … Offer something to the country. So you don’t just sit there.
This must be one of those socialist terrorist supporter sites John McCain told me so much about. You even involved your son…
Okay. I had to stop the snark before I got sick. Your post made me laugh. Obviously you raised him right if he’s hanging up on wingnuts.
Great story. I too have had quite a bit of contact from the Obama campaign and am excited about the organization. I personally will be spending all day in the north part of the City of St. Louis as a part of the Voter Protection Program as a vote challenger (a total misnomer, as we have been instructed not to challenge a single vote). If you think that is impressive, wait til you get a load of what they will be doing on election day.
I hope Peterr is right, but I am not so confident about Missouri going for Obama. Here is hoping!
They just showed Obama at a rally talking about his grandmother, so sad. He did his best to honor her and work it in to the stump speech at the same time. What strength he has, just amazing!
From April through August, the Pollster.com trend line had McCain up by about 7 points. The fact that it’s tied now is not a good thing for the GOP.
We’ll see if Obama can pull it out . . . but I’m guessing he will.
Peterr…
Excellent. When our two kids were in the womb, my wife and I started telling them (via her belly button) “Democrats good. Republicans bad.” Can’t start too early.
The Obama call you got might not have come from Missouri at all. I’ve been phone banking here in California, and we’ve been using the identical script to call people in swing states, including Missouri, as well as Nevada, North Carolina, and Florida. The organization of the campaign is just spectacular.
I’m hoping that the ground game will elevate Barack by a couple of points over what the polls are saying. (That, and the unsurveyed by most polls cell phone users.) That would give us Missouri and possibly a few other formerly red states. If you want to be REALLY optimistic, it’s not out of the question for Barack to approach or even surpass 400 electoral votes.
Let us pray.